Ahead of the governorship and House of Assembly elections, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has charged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to clamp down on illicit funds flow transactions by corrupt politicians and their cahoots with the commercial banks, as well as vote buying in the country.
Olanrewaju Suraju, chairman of HEDA in a statement issued on Saturday maintained that the circulation of old Naira notes as legal tender would create loopholes in the fight against corruption and insurgency in the country which it was proposed to achieve.
According to Suraju, Nigerians hoping to benefit from the new Naira designed policy and the attendant hardship that have endured a few weeks of the new Naira notes scarcity caused by the insufficient notes provided by the apex bank and conspiracy of commercial bank officials should not go in vain
He urged the CBN to ensure that the purpose of the Naira redesign policy is not forfeited.
Suraju added, “With the Supreme Court judgment delivered that the old notes continue to be legal tender, the Central Bank and other financial institutions must swing into action and deploy some measures to track counterfeit illicit money flow transactions by corrupt politicians and their allies.
“Improved scrutiny should be intensified by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to track bank officials, estate managers and Bureau de Changes for suspicious movement of toxic funds within and outside the financial institutions.
He stressed that vote-buying might be on the high side with the availability of old Naira notes against what was experienced during the presidential elections, pointing out that the EFCC must sustain its commendable efforts on the curb of vote-buying tactics by politicians to disrupt the integrity of the electoral process.
“Similarly, the anti-graft agency and other law enforcement agencies should also intensify efforts against vote-buying ahead and during the gubernatorial elections in March 11,” he added
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